Research Notes for an Annotated Bibliography
& (eventually) a Thesis-Driven Research Paper
| In the space at the top write your topic title. For example: Dogtown Stories On the left side write down the citation information. Use your Compass (page 58) and/or the library handout entitled “Preparing a Works Cited list in MLA style”. For example: Olson, Charles. The Maximus Poems. Below the citation information write summary, information, paraphrases, quotations from the source. (This will help you write the summary part of the annotation.) For example: The “Proem” [means: preface] section of Maximus IV, V, VI deals with the story of James Merry, who died fighting a bull in Dogtown. The poem is a mythic rather than realistic portrayal of Merry. (Much of the poem seems to be a kind of creation myth centered in D’town.) Some key descriptions: (of Merry) “Drunk / to cover his shame” (of the bull) “the baby bull / now full grown” (of Merry’s dead body) “this man who lay / in the Sunday morning sun / like smoked fish” “joking men/had laughed/at Merry//Drink/had made him/brave//only the sun/in the morning/covered him/with flies” In the end the earth takes Merry into her which connections the creation myth part of the poem with Merry’s foolish hubris & tragedy. | On the right side write down notes that will help you write an evaluation of the quality and relevance (importantance / significance) of the source. (This will help you write the evaluation and relevance part of the annotation.) For example: This source is a poem and so makes imaginative fictional use of the historical facts. I should compare Olson’s account with other accounts. Also write down ideas, opinions, reactions questions. (This will help you with your thesis-driven research paper.) It seems important that Olson puts Dogtown at the center of a creation myth. He seems to use Merry’s story to contrast human foolishness with the greatness of the earth (represented by Dogtown’s rock formations). I wonder if other writers handle Merry’s story similarly or differently? I wonder if Olson uses Dogtown elsewhere in his poem. |
Example of a citation with annotation
Olson, Charles. The Maximus Poems. Berkeley , CA : University of California
Maximus IV, V, VI includes a creation myth set in Dogtown. The “Proem” section of Maximus IV, V, VI deals particularly with the story of James Merry, who died fighting a bull in Dogtown. Olson describes Merry as “Drunk / to cover his shame”; after the bull kills him Olson describes him as “in the Sunday morning sun / like smoked fish.” In the end the earth takes Merry into her, which connects the creation myth with Merry’s foolish hubris & tragedy. [This is the summary part of the annotation.]
Olson’s poem is not an entirely accurate retelling of the real events, but, to be fair, historical accuracy is not the poem’s goal. The poem makes mythic and imaginative use of the historical facts in order to reveal man’s arrogance toward nature. The version of James Merry’s story told in Dogtown by Elyssa East is more thoroughly researched. [This is the evaluation (or critique) part of the annotation.]
Although most of the poems in the book do not deal with Dogtown, the “Proem” in Maximus IV, V, VI presented a version of James Merry’s story that is very compelling. Like many other Dogtown stories, the story is interesting, dramatic, and of questionable historical accuracy. [This is the part of the annotation where you explain the relevance of the source to your topic.]
[In this case the topic is “Dogtown Stories.” The example above is 170+ words in length and is “A” quality work. The minimum requirement for your annotations is 100 words.]
[You will hand in double-entry notes and annotated citations from 5 (five) sources. Don’t forget: heading, topic title, alphabetical order, hanging indentation, double-spaced, twelve point font, MLA format.]
